Friends:
I'll weigh in with my tuppence worth here. Been away for a couple of
days, but this sure is an interesting thread to come home to! Better
than cats, aolians, or any of a dozen other topics!
I will say, I've rarely heard an unkind word said about Leno, especially
from car fiends. He seems a very upstanding fella to me.
Like many of you, I enjoy seeing a nice 100% resto at a show, especially
if the fella who owns it is the fella who did most of the work, or even
some of it. I enjoy it even more if it runs well. I saw one at a
Richmond show once that I would've sworn was a garage queen, but it
turned out to be a daily driver. My hat was off to the fella and I
tracked him down just to say so. If nothing else, these examples are
excellent for us to study to fill in the gaps where the manuals and
pictures just don't tell us what it's supposed to look like.
On the other hand, I don't really give a tinker's damn whether Rags is a
100 pointer or not. She's my car, and not really a restoration. More of
a one-off rebuild of an old, tired MG, done by O'Shaughnessey Garages
(talk about unique!). She's also one of those despised
restorations-in-progress, where I do what I can in one season and fix
what I have the time and cash for, and drive the car anyway. She'll
never get a 'frame-off' restoration, not the way a show car will. She
runs, and runs pretty well now, and she stops (Thanks Be) very well.
Admittedly, she looks like hell. The paint's tired, the top's still in
tatters (and now has a fair amount of duct tape and City of
Fredericksburg plastic bags where her quarter-lights used to be) and the
brightwork isn't, very. I still take her to shows when I have the time
and I do whatever rallyes I can fit in, too.
I'm not a particularly rich man, but I enjoy my car and the people I
meet with her and the driving I can do in her. I enjoy the creation in
progress. I take great pride in what I fix myself, as I'm sure a lot of
you do. I get no bigger kick than when I come in from the shop after
wrestling with some stubborn bit on Rags for hours, and I can tell
Herself that I've once again conquered the world; her eyes'll light up
and she'll smile like that 17 year-old kid she still is inside, give me
a hug, and say 'Let's go for a drive, then!'. I'm the by-God happiest
man on the planet at that point, and I wouldn't give you a nickel for
all the 100% resto's in the world.
I think this hobby's got room for me, and for Deutsch, and for the 100%
resto fellas, and for Barney racin' round in his A, and for lots of
other people (even aolians); I think it's what you make it, and what it
is to you. Pride of ownership doesn't always come from a perfect
example, but it can. It's the love of the marque, and of the cars as
cars and spirited machines rather than as mere transportation, that sets
us apart and brings us together. It's a love without strings, and I
think we should all be happy that each of us is keeping the marque
alive, and each in our own way, keepin' em on the road.
Merry Christmas, friends, and a joyous season to you all and your
beautiful cars.
Corey
75 MGB 'Rags'
RD#373750
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